Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Sunagakure Declares War, Natsuki Heads to the Battlefield

The plan for the three squads to eat together to celebrate becoming Chunin ultimately fell through.

Because less than a week after the Chunin Exams ended, on the first day of June, Sunagakure officially declared war on Konoha.

Although Sunagakure, Konoha, and Amegakure had been fighting in the Land of Rain for a long time, there had been no official declaration of war.

Only Amegakure had declared war on Sunagakure, Konoha, and Iwagakure.

In the Hokage’s office.

"Sunagakure ultimately chose to declare war instead of seeking peace."

Mitokado Homura said slowly.

"It was expected. Chiyo’s son and daughter-in-law alone are not enough to stop the Third Kazekage."

Utatane Koharu snorted coldly. "His ambition has long been exposed."

"Orochimaru, return to the Land of Rain immediately to take charge of the overall situation."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Teacher."

Orochimaru nodded and said in a calm tone.

"Sunagakure is coming in full force. Let me and Root handle intelligence!"

Danzo said with an air of righteous indignation.

"Root will assist the ANBU."

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought for a moment and didn’t refuse.

In a large-scale war, intelligence became complex. The ANBU alone were far from enough. Root’s help was necessary.

Danzo secretly thought it was a pity.

If he were solely in charge of intelligence, he could take this opportunity to gain corresponding power.

He could do many things he couldn’t do before.

But regardless, being able to participate meant there would be opportunities.

"Sunagakure will definitely send reinforcements after declaring war."

Sarutobi Hiruzen continued. "Tsunade, you will lead five thousand ninjas to support them."

"Yes, Teacher."

Tsunade replied.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had mentioned this before, so she wasn’t surprised.

"Tsunade, the selection of these five thousand ninjas and their logistics will be decided by you."

Sarutobi Hiruzen added. "All departments will cooperate with you."

Hearing this, Danzo couldn’t help but fall silent.

Sarutobi Hiruzen would never give him such great power.

His position was very clear: he was Sarutobi Hiruzen’s shadow, rooted in the darkness, unable to be exposed to the front stage.

Danzo sighed inwardly.

A momentary lapse of judgment back then caused him to miss the Hokage position.

The brief meeting ended.

Tsunade and Orochimaru arrived at Uzumaki Mito’s residence.

Natsuki, Nawaki, and the others were training.

"Come here."

Tsunade spoke up.

Hearing this, Natsuki stopped practicing the D-Rank Demonic Illusion: Servant of the Mist Technique.

Last month, he had already learned Water Release: Water Binding and Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu.

As long as he learned three more genjutsu, he could unlock the Bickslow template’s Figure Eyes.

"Just now, Sunagakure officially declared war on our Konoha."

Tsunade got straight to the point.

"Declared war?"

Nawaki asked, confused. "Haven’t we been fighting Sunagakure all along?"

"The scale of the war will escalate again after a declaration of war."

Tsunade paused. "I will be the commander and lead five thousand ninjas to the Land of Rain."

"What about us?"

Nawaki asked hurriedly.

He was worried Tsunade wouldn’t take them.

Because she didn’t let them go to the war with Orochimaru before.

"You were originally supposed to go to the Land of Rain with Orochimaru, but for now, you will follow me."

Tsunade explained. "I want to use Chiyo’s poison to crack Hanzo’s poison."

Nawaki understood.

Tsunade wanted to use Natsuki and Nonou.

As for him, he knew absolutely nothing about detoxification and was just tagging along.

But he didn’t care. As long as he could go to the battlefield, it was fine.

"Does that mean I can’t go?"

Kushina asked with some unwillingness.

"Sorry."

Tsunade nodded. "You indeed cannot go."

"We’ll be back soon."

Natsuki reached out, held Kushina’s hand, and comforted her.

Kushina was stunned and subconsciously looked at his hand.

She embarrassedly lowered her head and softly responded.

"Hurry up and prepare. I’ll notify you before we set off."

After Tsunade finished speaking, she looked at Orochimaru.

"I have nothing to say."

Orochimaru glanced at his three students. "Be careful."

"Yes, Teacher."

Natsuki, Nawaki, and Nonou said in unison.

With the matter concluded, Tsunade and Orochimaru turned and left.

Orochimaru went straight to the Land of Rain.

As the commander, Tsunade had a lot to do—after all, she was responsible for the deployment and arrangement of five thousand ninjas.

"Let’s go."

Natsuki took the initiative to say. "Let’s go to the ninja tool shop."

He had Projection Magecraft and didn’t need to buy ninja tools, but Nawaki and Nonou did.

"I’ll go too."

Kushina said, looking at Natsuki.

"Of course."

Natsuki smiled. "You can also buy some ninja tools. You’ll definitely need them in the future."

The purpose of a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki’s existence was to go to the battlefield.

But if the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki appeared on the battlefield, it meant Konoha was at a critical moment of life and death.

"Mm!"

Kushina’s depression about not being able to go to the battlefield lessened a bit.

The four of them arrived at the nearest ninja tool shop.

Ninja tool shops not only sold conventional ninja tools like kunai but also unconventional ones like explosive tags.

"Grab more explosive tags."

Natsuki said very generously. "I’m paying. Don’t hold back."

The usefulness of explosive tags was undoubtedly immense.

With good luck, a single explosive tag could take out a ninja.

Its only drawback was that it was expensive—but being expensive wasn’t a drawback for Natsuki.

He now had more money than he could spend.

Natsuki suddenly had an idea.

Could he project explosive tags?

But on second thought, Broken Phantasm could make any ninja tool equivalent to an explosive tag, so there was no need for him to project explosive tags.

"Since you put it that way, I definitely won’t hold back!"

Hearing this, Nawaki showed a happy smile.

Natsuki glanced at him.

He wondered if, during this trip to the battlefield in the Land of Rain, Nawaki would still have the possibility of dying in an explosive tag trap.

After buying the ninja tools, the four returned to Uzumaki Mito’s residence.

The only thing they could do next was wait while training.

The next day.

Natsuki saw an unexpected guest: Might Duy.

"Duy, why are you here in a hospital gown?"

Nawaki asked, confused.

"I snuck out of Konoha Hospital."

Might Duy scratched his head.

"...?"

Nawaki was instantly stunned.

He never expected this thick-eyebrowed, big-eyed guy to actually have such guts!

"Konoha Hospital is very busy right now, preparing medicines for the war, so no one is paying attention to me for the time being."

Might Duy paused and stated his purpose. "Natsuki, these are the three taijutsu techniques you wanted."

He took out three taijutsu scrolls and handed them to Natsuki.

Upon hearing about Sunagakure’s declaration of war, he guessed Natsuki and the others would most likely go to the Land of Rain.

"Thank you."

Natsuki put away the three taijutsu scrolls, then took out two other taijutsu scrolls. "These two taijutsu techniques are a gift for you."

He was giving away the Head Chef Drop Kick and Head Chef Dead Weight from the Zeff template.

As for the abilities from the Shuzo template, there was no rush.

He planned to teach the Marine Rokushiki to Tsunade, Nonou, and the others later.

But before that, he needed time to "create" the ninjutsu to convince them.

"I still have to stay in the hospital for a while."

Might Duy gave a thumbs up. "You guys take the first step in youth. I’ll follow shortly!"

After speaking, he didn’t linger, turned around, and returned to Konoha Hospital.

"Duy is really unique."

Nawaki sighed emotionally.

A normal ninja wouldn’t hand over the ninjutsu or taijutsu they learned so casually.

"It’s just that his behavior is sometimes too eccentric."

Kushina shook her head.

"Natsuki, why are you learning taijutsu again?"

Nawaki glanced at the taijutsu scrolls in his hand.

Hearing this, Natsuki secretly thought, Good question.

He was just worrying about not having an opportunity.

"My battle with Duy made me realize that my taijutsu has significant shortcomings, so I thought about learning a few taijutsu techniques to improve."

Natsuki paused. "And while I’m at it, see if I can create a few new taijutsu techniques."

"...?"

Nawaki looked at him with a face full of question marks upon hearing this.

What do you mean "while I’m at it, see if I can create a few new taijutsu techniques"?

"Then I want to learn the taijutsu you create!"

Kushina’s eyes lit up.

"Aren’t you going to doubt whether he can actually create them?"

Nawaki complained.

"What’s there to doubt?"

Kushina asked in return.

"Natsuki can definitely create them."

Nonou agreed.

"..."

Nawaki looked up at the sky, feeling like he was the abnormal one.

But clearly, the abnormal one was Natsuki.

As expected, there were gaps even between geniuses.

His genius status was truly not worth mentioning in front of Natsuki.

"Forget it. I’m going to train."

Nawaki waved his hand.

He had to learn both Water Release and Water Breathing, so time was still very tight for him.

Natsuki also wanted to learn the three genjutsu before going to the Land of Rain, but unfortunately, war waits for no one.

On the third day, they received a notification from the ANBU to gather at the entrance of Konoha immediately.

"Kushina, we’re leaving first. Don’t worry too much about us. Even if you don’t believe in us, you have to believe in Teacher Tsunade."

Natsuki reached out, pinched her cheek.

"Mm."

Kushina said reluctantly. "Be careful."

"Maybe it won’t be long before you hear our names!"

Nawaki clenched his fists.

He was participating in the war for peace, of course, but with his youthful mindset, he also wanted to make a name for himself on the battlefield.

After all, the reputation of the Senju clan rested on him and Tsunade.

After saying goodbye, Natsuki’s trio arrived at the entrance of Konoha.

A dense crowd of ninjas had already gathered there.

They quickly spotted Tsunade.

She stood in front of the five thousand ninjas, reading a scroll.

"Teacher Tsunade."

Natsuki walked up and greeted her.

"Sister."

Nawaki asked curiously. "When are we setting off?"

"We can set off now."

Tsunade put away the scroll. "I just confirmed there are no problems with the list of deploying ninjas."

Natsuki looked around and spotted some acquaintances, such as Hatake Sakumo and Hyuga Hizashi.

His thoughts stirred, secretly thinking he could find an opportunity to spar with Hatake Sakumo. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

With his current strength, he had a certain degree of confidence in winning.

Then he could unlock the Sasaki Kojiro template’s Eye of the Mind (False).

Eye of the Mind (False) gave him the feeling of Observation Haki—which perfectly made up for the Shuzo template lacking Observation Haki.

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